Hopkins pediatric hospital: Maya Kowalski’s care ‘appropriate’
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., plans to file post-trial motions against the $261 million judgment that a Florida jury last week ordered the institution to pay.
If still “necessary” after that, the hospital will appeal the judgment, which combines compensatory and punitive assessments.
All Children’s made its intentions known in a quarterly CFO report posted Nov. 14. The report covers the full, Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation and Affiliates.
The winning plaintiffs in the civil case were Maya Kowalski and her family. Their story is known to millions of people thanks to the Netflix documentary “Take Care of Maya.”
The jury ruled that the suicide of Maya’s mother, Beata, was precipitated by intentionally inflicted distress and so represented a “wrongful death” for which the hospital is liable. The jury also found Maya had been falsely imprisoned, battered and medically neglected while her father, Jack, was fraudulently billed.
Days after winning the suit, an attorney for the Kowalskis announced criminal charges are soon to follow. The charges will allege sexual assault of Maya during her inpatient stay.
In a short paragraph commenting on the case in the quarterly financial report, Johns Hopkins says All Children’s Hospital
“believes that the care provided [to Maya Kowalski] was appropriate and within the standard of care in the treatment of the patient.”
The CFO report also shows All Children’s absorbed a $1.9 million loss during the quarterly period ending Sept. 30. The parent organization had three-month operating income of $33.2 million against revenue of $2.2 billion.
The Tampa Bay Times points out that $261 million amounts to a significant chunk of the $592 million in revenue the children’s hospital reported on its 2021 tax return.
If Johns Hopkins attorneys lose their post-trial motions and appeals, All Children’s “faces a massive outlay that could force it to tap cash reserves, possibly impacting future credit ratings and delaying future expansion projects,” the newspaper reports, quoting the hospital’s CFO.
To see the Johns Hopkins quarterly financial report, click here.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.